Guide for Beginning Farmers on - Prince Edward Island

1 2016 Guide for Beginning Farmers onPrince Edward IslandAgriculture and Fisheries 2016 Guide for Beginning Farmers on Prince Edward Island Page 1 of 35 Your partner for a proactive and profitable agriculture community. So you want to be a Farming is an ancient and noble profession, and one of Prince Edward Island s backbone industries. Agriculture and its related industries, like food processing, make a vital contribution to the province s economy, society, and culture. However, farming is not easy. The Government of Prince Edward Island values the Island s Farmers and appreciates the importance of attracting new people into the agriculture industry. The Future Farmer Program was established to support the entry of new Farmers to the industry and improve the probability of new entrants establishing profitable and sustainable farm businesses.

2 The Department of Agriculture and Fisheries has put together this Guide for Beginning Farmers on Prince Edward Island to help you access the services and information you need as you establish your farm. To be a successful farmer, you need to think through your plans very carefully. It is important to write things down so that you can easily re-evaluate your plans and measure your progress. There are a number of planning steps that you should follow before getting started in farming. This Guide will take you through those steps and direct you to additional sources of information on topics too complex to be covered in this document. Call us or visit .. The Agriculture Information Desk at the PEI Department of Agriculture and Fisheries is staffed by professionals who are interested in helping you achieve your goal of becoming a farmer.

3 For more information, contact the Agriculture Information Desk at 902-368-4145, 1-866-PEIFARM (734-3276) or visit the website 2016 Guide for Beginning Farmers on Prince Edward Island Page 2 of 35 Your partner for a proactive and profitable agriculture community. Step 1: Define your goals. Why do you want to farm? Once you know that, you can determine what you want to produce and how you want to farm. People want to be Farmers for many different reasons, including: a way of earning a living cultural ties to the land and/or the farming way of life a desire to increase household food security and self-reliance a way to supplement income from another job a combination of any of these reasons or other reasons Most people have more than one reason for wanting to farm.

4 For example, those who want to earn their main income from their farm will develop a different scale of enterprise than those who only want to supplement their income. Beginning Farmers with small children will have different goals than retirees. Talk with someone with agricultural or business expertise about what you expect from farming or read some of the following resources before taking the next step. Agriculture Information Officers and Agriculture Commodity Specialists with the PEI Department of Agriculture and Fisheries can assist you in defining your goals. (See the Appendix1 for contact details.) Are you really sure that farming is for you? If you have no farming experience, you should give serious consideration to spending at least a year working on different types of farms before investing your time, energy, and capital in a farm enterprise.

5 This will help you decide what kind of farming suits your goals and interests. You may also decide that farming is not for you. The book You Can Farm: The Entrepreneur s Guide to Start and Succeed in a Farming Enterprise by Joel Salatin is an excellent book for giving an overview of what you can expect from a farm lifestyle. 2016 Guide for Beginning Farmers on Prince Edward Island Page 3 of 35 Your partner for a proactive and profitable agriculture community. Resources include land, capital, infrastructure, equipment, and information. Make a list of what you already have and another list of what you think you still need to get started. If you have trouble completing this step, PEI Department of Agriculture and Fisheries staff can provide you with assistance. If you already.

6 Land: How much area do you want to farm? Are there any zoning or municipal by-law restrictions that would restrict the type of farm enterprise you can develop? Are there any environmental considerations that would restrict the type of farm enterprise you can develop ( proximity to neighbours, proximity to wetlands, etc.)? What kinds of crops and livestock are suited to the land? (This will depend on soil type and productivity, drainage, slope, climate, and location, market access.) ..capital: How much can you or are you willing to invest in your farm enterprise? What return on investment do you expect and how quickly do you expect to see it? ..infrastructure: What sort of infrastructure exists on your farm ( wells, barns, sheds, fencing, etc.)? Is the existing infrastructure in a safe and useable state?

7 If not, can it be repaired? ..equipment: What sort of equipment do you have ( tractors, other farm machinery, chainsaw, machine and carpentry tools, computer, etc.)? Is the existing equipment in a safe and useable state? If not, can it be repaired? ..information: What do you know about farming? What do you know about marketing farm products? What do you know about farm legislation on Prince Edward Island ? Do you know where to get additional information about the various aspects of farming on Prince Edward Island ? 2016 Guide for Beginning Farmers on Prince Edward Island Page 4 of 35 Your partner for a proactive and profitable agriculture community. Step 2: Decide what you want to produce and how you want to go about doing it. There are a wide variety of farms on Prince Edward Island .

8 These include supply managed livestock, non-supply managed livestock, crop farms and farms producing specialty products. Supply management means the relevant commodity marketing board matches supply to demand by allocating production quotas to producers and setting the prices for the commodity. This ensures Farmers a stable and adequate income and provides consumers with a high-quality and consistent supply of these commodities. However, the supply-managed commodities are heavily regulated and the most difficult commodities for new Farmers to enter. Some of the commodities produced on Prince Edward Island can be categorized as follows: supply managed livestock commodities o dairy cows o poultry-meat chickens (broilers) o poultry-egg-laying chickens (layers) non-supply managed livestock o beef o swine o sheep o goat crop farms o potatoes o tree fruit - apples, plum, cherries, pears, and other tree fruits o small fruit - strawberries, blueberries, cranberries and raspberries o vegetables o field crops o wine grapes specialty products o bee - honey, pollination o fur - mink, fox, rabbit Many farms fall into more than one category.

9 In addition, within each category there are farms of different scale. A vegetable farm might be 100 acres and sell all its produce to a wholesaler or might be 2 acres and sell all its produce at a Farmers market. Within each category, there are also a variety of production and marketing methods. You can raise beef cattle on pasture or feed them grain and silage in a 2016 Guide for Beginning Farmers on Prince Edward Island Page 5 of 35 Your partner for a proactive and profitable agriculture community. feedlot. You can have an apple orchard and sell all the apples to a retailer or sell them primarily through a u-pick. Organic Farming One category of production methods is organic farming, which restricts the use of synthetic inputs. Any of the above farm commodities can be certified organic.

10 Organic Industry Development Program The Organic Industry Development Program is designed to provide assistance with projects that encourage growth in the organic sector and yield positive economic benefits to the Prince Edward Island agriculture industry. The Organic Industry Development Program is comprised of three sub-programs: Increasing Market Competitiveness Specialized Equipment Certified Organic Land Conversion For more information on organic certification, production and programing, contact the Organic Development Officer, Susan MacKinnon at 902-314-0825 or Three additional sources of information about organic farming are; PEI Certified Organic Producers Cooperative (COPC) at 902-894-9999 or at their website at Atlantic Canada Organic Regional Network (ACORN) at 1-866-32-ACORN (22676), , or see their website: Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada (OACC) located at the Dalhousie Faculty of Agriculture in Bible Hill.